The Liberator Ep.43 Companion Plants of the Sandveld 2024

Rick first travelled the road to Piekenierskloof in late 2003. Intrigued by a story recounted by an old friend. And so, with the promise of rediscovering some lost vineyards, our Cape Crusader set off in his standard issue Toyota Corroded hire car in search of this remote farm. What he found was a revelation; not only old vine Chenin, but new plantings of Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc, with a smattering of Grenache and Mourvèdre for good measure. Some twenty years on, the old dirt road might now be tarred, and the vineyards mature, yet Rick still makes his annual pilgrimage up to the valley to check out the vineyards and the resulting wines. As for Episode 43, could this really be the first ever single varietal Sauvignon Blanc Liberator release…? And a barrel-fermented example, at that. The complexity found within this wine is defined by considering the holistic view of its provenance and the symbiotic influence of the immediate environment. There is one single factor here which Rick believes helps to produce a wine that is significantly greater than the sum of its parts.